HOW DOES THE FRENCH PARADOX WORK?
The idea that regular consumption of wine could explain the French paradox was first aired by S Renaud and M. de Lorgeril, in 1991, the year in which they published an article in The Lancet. They suggested that alcohol had the ability to inhibit the formation of blood clots and that this could explain the protective effects of wine. This study met with great scepticism among experts and shocked a fair number of doctors and advocates of abstemiousness. Roger Corder took a closer look at the French paradox. He took the view that this phenomenon was not a scientific aberration but that it revealed a fundamental aspect of dietetics and health which called for further research. He furthermore highlighted the fact that it was more of southwest of France paradox since, with regard to longevity, the proportion of people aged over 90 in the Gers was twice as high as the countrys mean average. These people did not have a particularly healthy diet: on the contrary. Roger Corder noted, however, th
